Controversial LFC thread.

[Howard_lfc]

Damn. It wasn't as controversial as I thought !!

Some good points made but nothing so far has changed my mind. Spending close to £17m on a holding midfielder when we already have Stevie, Xabi, Lucas and (possibly) Momo makes no sense to me. The money could be used better to strengthen the wide area's and up front IMO.

I'm aware the amounts of money paid for Carrick, Hargreaves, Obi Mikel, Essien and Makalele but we simply don't have the reserves of cash that they have so to we have to be smarter with our signings.

[AFII]

Damn. It wasn't as controversial as I thought !!

Some good points made but nothing so far has changed my mind. Spending close to £17m on a holding midfielder when we already have Stevie, Xabi, Lucas and (possibly) Momo makes no sense to me. The money could be used better to strengthen the wide area's and up front IMO.

I'm aware the amounts of money paid for Carrick, Hargreaves, Obi Mikel, Essien and Makalele but we simply don't have the reserves of cash that they have so to we have to be smarter with our signings.

Well, if we sign Mascherano for £17m then we can easily sell him for £25m+ one year later. It's a no risk deal.

[Howard_lfc]

Well, if we sign Mascherano for £17m then we can easily sell him for £25m+ one year later. It's a no risk deal.

but why tie money up buying him when we could use it to bring in players we actually need?

[AFII]

but why tie money up buying him when we could use it to bring in players we actually need?

No one knows how much money we need.

The only real must signings is a central defender, maybe a winger and one quality striker.

Defender....£10m+
Winger......£15m+
Striker.......£20m+
Mascherano....£17m

£62m+

Riise........£5m
Sissoko....£8m-£10m
Crouch.....£10m
Carson.....£10m

£33m

Net....£29m.

I know that it's fantasy figures but probably what it would cost to sign the players we need and sell the players that's on the way out.

I think we can afford to splash out around £30m.

[carheex]

I'm going to open this thread with a controversial statement regarding Masher:
I wouldn't like to pay more that £10m for a holding midfielder player. And I certainly wouldn't go anywhere near the reported £17m for him. For that kind of money I would want somebody who can hold,tackle,pass,score,dictate games, set up goals and is in general an all rounder (Xabi,Pirlo). £17m to 'hold'? No thanks.

Mascherano is much better than either of those two and is subsequently worht at least the17m figure. You get what you pay for.

[carheex]

Well, if we sign Mascherano for £17m then we can easily sell him for £25m+ one year later. It's a no risk deal.

Can we???? how's that then?

[AFII]

Can we???? how's that then?

A lot of the big clubs want him, that means a bidding war.

[carheex]

A lot of the big clubs want him, that means a bidding war.

You're forgetting one small detail - Mascherano loves it at liverpool so why would he agree to move clubs after signing a permanent contract?

[Nic83]

I'm going to open this thread with a controversial statement regarding Masher:
I wouldn't like to pay more that £10m for a holding midfielder player. And I certainly wouldn't go anywhere near the reported £17m for him. For that kind of money I would want somebody who can hold,tackle,pass,score,dictate games, set up goals and is in general an all rounder (Xabi,Pirlo). £17m to 'hold'? No thanks.

I ****ing agree.

That is all.

[wiw]

If what the Yanks said is true about our budget being 'player specific' then is this really a problem? Rafa will be backed for other players...and we're selling Momo

[akjs123]

Damn. It wasn't as controversial as I thought !!

Some good points made but nothing so far has changed my mind. Spending close to £17m on a holding midfielder when we already have Stevie, Xabi, Lucas and (possibly) Momo makes no sense to me. The money could be used better to strengthen the wide area's and up front IMO.

I'm aware the amounts of money paid for Carrick, Hargreaves, Obi Mikel, Essien and Makalele but we simply don't have the reserves of cash that they have so to we have to be smarter with our signings.

Think of it like this. We NEED a ball winning midfielder because Gerrard, Alonso and Lucas are not. Both Momo and Masch have put in some massive performances for us in BIG games and before that we had Hamann who was influential in us winning the CL. Momo is probably unhappy given his quotes about making a mistake not moving to Juventus and his form has been poor. I will be surprised if he here next season. He would fetch around £10-12m.

Which ball winning midfielder would you get for less than £12m who can put in as influential performances in key games like Momo and Masch have done in the past. Would you rather keep Momo/spend £10-12m on another midfielder or shell out another £5-7m and secure Masch who is the best holding midfielder in the world, has another 10 years in him, is settled at the club and is very loyal to us.

[akjs123]

Well, if we sign Mascherano for £17m then we can easily sell him for £25m+ one year later. It's a no risk deal.

AFII, that is very FM like. If Rafa signs Masch, it will never be because he wants to sell him one year later at a profit. He isnt a commodity ffs.

[einar]

The thing I wonder about is if Parry is just going to try to save the club a few mills, and if he cant we will pay the 17m.

The other option is if we actually have someone who could do the job as well or even better lined up and there for we will not pay top price for Mascherano.

I simply refuse to believe that there is no young player out there who is going to be a world class player in this position in the next 1-2 years. I think many here are underestimating our scouting department. Maybe this Javi Martinez is going to be a better player. He is taller so probably stronger in the air. Maybe he has more pace and is a better passer, who knows. I know I dont.

I honestly believe that the club is an a position to take Mascherano if it wants to. And if we dont it will be because Rafa thinks we will be better for it.

[dww]

The thing I wonder about is if Parry is just going to try to save the club a few mills, and if he cant we will pay the 17m.

The other option is if we actually have someone who could do the job as well or even better lined up and there for we will not pay top price for Mascherano.

I simply refuse to believe that there is no young player out there who is going to be a world class player in this position in the next 1-2 years. I think many here are underestimating our scouting department. Maybe this Javi Martinez is going to be a better player. He is taller so probably stronger in the air. Maybe he has more pace and is a better passer, who knows. I know I dont.

I honestly believe that the club is an a position to take Mascherano if it wants to. And if we dont it will be because Rafa thinks we will be better for it.

The thing is though that there obviously isn't anyone already adapted to the PL who is anywhere near as good, let alone one who is available. Also there is every chance that a prospect of that caliber would cost £10m or more in which case why not pay the extra ~£7m for a player who a/ we know fits our system, b/ is adapted to the league and c/ is rated one of the best in his position in the world (which is good for resale value as well as the obvious benefit of him in all likelihood being the best option in playing terms).

I suspect that we need to get the stadium refinanced before we think about any big transfers (at least without selling before we buy) which accounts for the delay sorting out the transfer for Mascher (which we apparently have first option on anyway at the end of his loan).

[einar]

That's different mate, esentially, one of those midfielders did attack because they had the room to get forward and hence we only had 1 defensive midfielder.

It's my opinion, check out our games where we have played 6 at the back it's really depressing stuff.

You are trying to hard to find an explanation for our poor form.

When Rafa is asked why he plays only one striker when we need to win he always replies " the formation is not what matter, it is what you tell the players to do "

It is the same with the midfielders. If we play Xabi and Mascher, Xabi is going to be lurking outside the oppositions box if the team is playing well.
If the team is not playing well both midfield players will be forced back and the tactics look negative. It has nothing to do with playing two defensive midfielders or not.

We played Xabi and Mascher against Derby.